Fur Protester Sets Self on Fire...Cop Rushes to Put Him Out...Accidentally Douses Him with Pepper Spray Instead of Water...Man Dies

Once again, you read right.

The first Portland Police officer to arrive on the scene of the man who set himself on fire Wednesday outside the Nicholas Ungar Furs store accidentally used pepper spray in an attempt to put out the flames instead of a fire extinguisher, officials at the Portland Police Bureau said Thursday.

Police said the officer, who was nearby, saw 26-year-old Daniel Shaull from Kansas on fire, parked her patrol car, went to her trunk and accidentally grabbed pepper spray used for riot control instead of the fire extinguisher.

The canister of pepper spray the officer used is red like many fire extinguishers. “They (officer and motorist) attempted to get the young man to roll on the ground to put out the flames,” Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer said. “He kept running away and was uncooperative. Eventually, additional cover units arrived, and they were able to get him on the ground and extinguish the flames.”

Shaull, however, later died at Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

It is not clear if the man was running away because of the effects of the pepper spray. Witnesses said Shaull poured gasoline on himself and then set himself on fire outside the Nicholas Ungar Furs store at 12th and Yamhill and began screaming: “There are animals dying! Animals dying!”

Here's a video report:

Officer used pepper spray to douse man on fire